Tate Grafton has a tough exterior, but underneath she’s kind, caring, and fiercely loyal. That’s why she first started working at Out in Portland Coffee—it was her way of repaying the shop’s owner for taking her in as a homeless teenager. After nine years of coffee slinging, though, Tate feels like she’s letting life pass her by…until she shares an unforgettable night with a beautiful stranger. When the mysterious woman disappears the next morning, Tate doesn’t even have her name. And when Tate learns that the shop is in trouble, she can’t afford to dwell on her missed connection.
Laura Enfield was only supposed to be in Portland for a few days—just long enough to oversee a simple business deal before joining her conservative father on his latest political campaign. But when the closeted Laura romances an employee of the coffee shop her company is shutting down, things get suddenly complicated. Now, the lies she’s told for years are beginning to unravel, and her biggest secret is about to be exposed. So why can’t she stop thinking about the beautiful barista with the soulful eyes?
As Tate fights to save the shop, Laura finds it harder to fight their growing attraction. But after a lifetime of lies, can Laura finally embrace something true?
Laura poured a lot of emotion into her note…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Dear Tate,
When you left this morning, I looked around your apartment: the sky-blue curtains, the heirloom tomatoes you picked last night in the twilight all lined up on the windowsill. They smell like sunshine. Your whole life is here.
You know my house in Alabama? I can’t even remember the floor plan. That’s how many hotels I’ve slept in: one business trip after another. My whole life is like one of those studio portraits that comes with the photo frame. I know you think I’ll leave, that I’ve already left, that I was never really here to begin with, but I promise I’ll stay this time.
Until I walked into the coffee shop and saw you standing behind the counter, I wasn’t alive. Come back to me, not just today but always. Ride home to me. I love you.
Laura
Karelia Stetz-Waters is an English professor by day and writer by night (and early morning). She has a BA from Smith College in Comparative Literature and an MA in English from the University of Oregon. Other formative experiences include a childhood spent roaming the Oregon woods and several years spent exploring Portland as a broke 20-something, which is the only way to experience Oregon’s coolest, weirdest city. She lives with her wife, Fay. She teaches at a rural community college which provides ample inspiration for writing, as the college attracts all walks of life, from Sudanese refugees to fresh-out-of-the-closet drag queens. Her interests include large snakes, conjoined twins, corn mazes, lesbians, popular science books on neurology, and any roadside attraction that purports to have the world’s largest ball of twine. Her work includes two thrillers, The Admirer, The Purveyor, one YA novel, Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before, and one romance, Something True. Something True has the honor of being the first lesbian romance acquired by the Forever Yours Imprint of Grand Central Publishing.